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How Does Knowing Your “WHY” Help You in Your Career?

You may have heard of Simon Sinek, the author of “Start With Why.” His message in this book is focused on how great leaders inspire everyone to take action. So how does knowing more about your “why” help you?

The why I am referring to here isn’t “why should I get up and go to work today?” It is an outlook on life, work and how you want to make a difference—in essence, it’s your purpose, cause or belief behind what and how you do something.

Applied to your career, it means approaching job search or career direction with your “why” at the forefront so that it will catapult you to your goal.

Why should a company hire you?

No matter how brilliant you are, what great skills, talents, and experience you have to offer, your ideas or value it isn’t worth much if no one wants to buy it, or in other words hire you. If we look at an example from Simon’s book, he speaks about Apple and how the business grew exponentially. It wasn’t that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak knew how to run a business; their success was a result of their ability to think differently about their product and how they marketed it (presented it) to their target market.

You are the product

During job search, you are the product you present to prospective employers. Why should someone hire you? Do you know your value or your “why” (purpose)?Do you stand out among your peers? Employers hire executives not only to do the mechanics of the job, they want leaders to motive and inspire the company and its teams. They want leaders to motivate the employees to work smarter.

What’s the impact of your why?

If people want to work for you because you are an excellent leader, you give them a sense of purpose and belonging, then that same inspiration should be communicated to a prospective employer. It helps them to see that you can develop employees who want to work at peak performance, create loyalty in customers, and ultimately that would result in their organization being more profitable.

Market your why in your career materials

Create that excitement in your career marketing materials (Resume, LinkedIn Profile, Executive Bio, etc.). Highlight how you have been able to motivate and inspire, how developing innovative solutions to business challenges has created long-term success. Happy employees make an organization stronger, their products more attractive, and a bottom-line more profitable.

Surveys have shown that over 80% of Americans do not work in a job they feel passionate about. Make it your goal to be in the 20% of executives who love their job. Identify and tap into your “why” to help you achieve that success—in business and in your life.